Users of Apple’s iPhone have been reporting a glitch within the voice-to-text transcription software, claiming that when users say “racist” the word “Trump” sometimes comes up instead.
That bug was first noticed by TikTok users posting videos showing their devices making the switch. The phone will hear the word “racist,” briefly write the president’s last name, then quickly change the translation to correctly read “racist.”
Though the error hasn’t been happening each and every time, the Daily News found that in 25 attempts to get an iPhone to type “racist,” the word “Trump” first popped up seven of those times. The phone twice typed “Reiner” instead.
In a second round or testing Tuesday afternoon, the iPhone correctly translated “racist” in eight out of 10 attempts, while writing “Reiner” the other two.
While Apple has not responded to a Daily News request for comment, a company representative told the New York Times that a “phonetic overlap” could be to blame for the issue. The bug seems to be replacing certain words that both have an “R” at or near the beginning.
The company is reportedly working on a fix for the glitch.
One text analyst told The Times that an update to Apple’s servers appeared to be the catalyst to what he suspects is a “serious prank” involving either data or coding, rather than an artificial intelligence gaffe.
Despite Trump’s opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and often being criticized for his controversial choice of words, the president has claimed to be “the least racist person there is anywhere in the world.”